SELinux was originally a development project from the National Security Agency (NSA), Secure Computing corporation (SCC) and others. It is an implementation of SCC and others. It is an implementation of Flask Operating System security architecture. As a step in its evolution, SELinux was integrated into Linux kernel using the Linux Security Modules (LSM) framework. SELinux motivated the creation of LSM, at the suggestion of Linus Torvalds, who wanted a modular approach to security instead of just accepting SELinux into kernel. SELinux in now a standard component of RHEL and non-commercial distros like Fedora, Debian GNU/Linux, Gentoo Linux etc.

Introduction

In the world of Linux, SELinux is the new buzzword. Most OS use access controls to limit the access a user/process has on other parts of the system such as files, devices, sockets, ports and other processes (called objects in SELinux). The two main types are